City offers “free parking” along and nearby Eglinton Ave.

Toronto will offer a $6 discount on street parking purchased through the Green P app along Eglinton Ave. from Jane St. to Don Mills Rd. The discount effectively implements approximately 2 hours of free parking with promo code. A news release Friday also says the discount on the Green P app will extend 200 metres from Eglinton. In the case of shoppers on Mt. Pleasant Rd., it would to apply to a stretch of the street nearly as far south as Soudan Ave. The local Councillors have been asked to interpret this. See the news release here

Spaceman, Harlequin and letters to Dad will melt your heart

David Saint-Jacques is Canada’s newest astronaut. He’s an engineer, physician, astrophysicist, pilot and he speaks five languages. Fairly qualified. Then, Canada has honoured Will Davies, a legendary artist who among many achievements created some 500 paperback covers for Harlequin Romances. A stamp has been issued with his work on it.  Finally, an alert that Emily Hinchberger’s way of remembering her Dad, and how it has changed her life, will melt your heart.

Toronto Police to adopt Dutch Shepherd mix dog Jasmine

Toronto Police will adopt a dog Friday at 10:30 a.m, at the SPCA Provincial Education and Animal Centre, 16586 Woodbine Avenue in Whitchurch-Stouffville. Jasmine is a year-old Dutch Shepherd-mix. She will begin Toronto Police canine training in the coming months.

Mayor, Councillor to address disruption on Eglinton W.

See later post

Coleridge Ave. garage fire investigated as arson police say

Neighbours are telling police that they saw someone between the houses on Coleridge Ave near Woodbine and Lumsden Aves early Friday just before a fire gutted a garage about 1:30 a.m.  The fire is being investigated as a possible act of arson. Video: John Hanley

Davisville school bus forced into wrong lane by road sign

A new in-road safety sign behind Davisville Public School has been removed because in one incident a school bus was forced to drive around it on the wrong side of the road. The complete details of this have not been reported but it was enough for the City to rip up the sign. Last week, the City installed flexible in-road traffic calming signs in a dozen school zones across the city. The initiative was a widely promoted part of the $86-million Vision Zero Road Safety Plan and Mayor John Tory even helped install one of the signs. The future of these signs now seems quite uncertain.

Wildcats will be girls and Il Sogno on Yonge Street to close

Leaside Jr. Wildcats forward Myah Bowal celebrated her birthday this week with some teammates and of course one of their gifts was food in the face. What are friends for? And among the posters for interesting things to do in South Bayview this month is a last look at the cuisine of Chef RossBoss at Il Sogno on Yonge St. He will soon close, a victim of “increases in rent, taxes, costs and wages.” Sorry to see you go friend.

Police clear Don Valley Parkway after collision Thursday

Police dealt with and cleared a collision that snarled the Don Valley Parkway Thursday evening. Traffic was moving again by 9 p.m.

Dump truck vs bridge (again) ends with bridge clear winner

Here is the scene from Highway 40 east of Montreal Wednesday. We have witnessed dump trucks do this before. Is the industry up to installing a signal in the cab when the box is up? Then, the cleanup after windy Wednesday. Lots of good fallen tree shots seen here. Below that, Yulia Skripal speaks out and says that she and her dad are recovering from whatever it was that laid them low. Finally, the National Gallery will auction off Marc Chagall’s Eiffel Tower (1929) and the use the estimated $7 to $11 million in proceeds to buy a secret Canadian work. Not everyone is happy.






Timmy’s bumped way down the list in most-admired poll

NEWS IN BRIEF

A survey shows that Tim Hortons has fallen 40 spots in a poll of most-admired companies done by Leger and National Public Relations. It’s called the Reputation Study and it shows Tim’s slipping from fourth to 50th among Canadian firms. The full list may be buried here or there may be a fee to see it. Tim Horton’s travails began and have just gotten worse since the coffee and doughnut chain was taken over by Restaurant Brands (Burger King) in 2014. The drop in ranking probably does not reflect a similar decline in patronage.

LIBERALS RESIGNING

Three long-serving Liberal members of the Ontario Legislature say they will not be running in the June general election. They are Minister of Consumer Services and Persons with Disabilities Tracy MacCharles, International Trade Minister Michael Chan, and Glengarry-Prescott-Russell MPP Grant Crack. They all made separate announcements. Ms. MacCharles and Mr. Chan cited health concerns as primary reasons for their departure without providing details.

DOUG FORD CANCELS CAMPAIGN BUS

PC Leader Doug Ford has decided to get rid of the traditional campaign bus, a feature of election campaigns which some say time has overtaken. Many parties in Western Canada do not provide such a service during elections. But the decision is seen (by the media) as a form of hiding by Ford motivated by a concern that he may make a gaffe while on the stump. Such things are known.

CANADIANS PREFER KODI TO PIRATE STUFF

A report suggests Canadians who stream pirated TV and film content have shifted almost entirely from BitTorrent technology to a more user-friendly software called Kodi. It is commonly installed on TV set-top boxes running Google’s Android operating system.

Photo of car suspected in northwest Toronto man’s killing

Toronto Police have released a photo of a Mercedes car suspected to have a connection to the killing of Shaquille Wallace, 22, on January 9. Mr. Wallace was shot six times at 58 Waterton Road near Scarlett Rd. and Lawrence Ave. The vehicle is a 2001-2007 Mercedes C230, C240 or C320 that is black, blue or green in colour.

April “UK” Pop Up on Bayview starts sunny bulletin board

A UK Designer Sale Pop Up Boutique has ankled into 1633 Bayview Ave (beside Pagnello’s Antiques) for a monthlong run starting Thursday (today). At upper right, a reminder of the drop-in Euchre nights at Royal Canadian Legion-Woodbine Heights -Branch #22  at 1240 Woodbine Ave. Below that, a reminder that Paul Oliver, owner of the Urban Nature stores, will speak to the Leaside Garden Society on April 12th at 7.30 p.m. in the Leaside Public Library, 165 McRae Drive. His topic will be Attracting Summer Birds to Your Garden Lower left, the 9th Annual Northern Secondary School Debating Tournament will take place Friday and Saturday. Max Rosen tells The Bulldog that the finals begin Saturday at 5 p.m. in the school library. Click all posters for a fix on what you can do in South Bayview